As dawn broke on Monday, February 23, 2026, the East Coast was in the icy grip of a fierce winter storm that left hundreds of thousands without power, closed major roads, and challenged even the most seasoned emergency crews. Blizzard Calvin, as it was named, slammed into Connecticut and Massachusetts overnight, unleashing heavy, wet snow and howling winds that toppled trees, downed power lines, and caused widespread outages from Cape Cod to the Naugatuck Valley and beyond.
According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, well over 100,000 homes in Massachusetts were without electricity by 8 a.m. Eversource, the region’s largest power provider, reported a staggering 142,000 customers in Eastern Massachusetts alone had lost power, while National Grid counted 45,000 more outages with 244 separate incidents. The brunt of the storm was felt most acutely in Cape Cod, where more than 15,000 Eversource customers were in the dark as of 6 a.m. Falmouth and Barnstable—two of the Cape’s largest towns—were especially hard-hit, with 5,541 and 3,792 outages respectively. Wellfleet followed with 1,636 outages, and Martha’s Vineyard reported around 20, according to the Cape Cod Times.
On the other side of the Sound, Connecticut residents faced a similarly grim morning. Eversource’s outage map showed 11,635 customers without power statewide early Monday, more than double the number reported earlier that morning. United Illuminating, which serves parts of New Haven and Fairfield counties, had 14 outages as of 2:30 a.m., but that number would climb as the storm intensified. By 7:45 a.m., Eversource was reporting 11,981 outages, with shoreline towns such as Guilford, Waterford, and East Lyme among the hardest hit. United Illuminating’s tally rose to 3,075, with most outages in Milford, Orange, Hamden, and Fairfield.
Steve Sullivan, president of Eversource’s Connecticut operations, warned that this would not be a quick fix. “With these high winds, our crews really can’t go 40 or 50 feet up in the air into their buckets until those winds die down,” Sullivan said during a Sunday news conference, as reported by The Hartford Courant. “This is likely to be a multi-day restoration event.” Eversource anticipated that several hundred thousand customers could lose power before the storm was over, and that it could take two to six days before full restoration. Crews, more than 1,000 strong and including many from out of state, were activated to respond but would be largely limited to clearing blocked roads until conditions improved.
The storm’s timing and severity couldn’t have been worse. The National Weather Service had issued a blizzard warning for Cape Cod through 7 a.m. Tuesday, with a coastal flood warning in effect until 7 a.m. Monday and a flood watch from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday. At Hyannis airport, forecasters predicted heavy snow throughout the day, with winds from the northeast at 35 to 40 mph, gusting as high as 70 mph, before easing slightly in the afternoon. The chance of precipitation was pegged at 100%, with new snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches expected before the storm tapered off in the early hours of Tuesday.
Connecticut, too, braced for a punishing onslaught. The National Weather Service projected up to nearly two feet of snow in the state’s northeast corner, with 19 inches or more in southeastern and southwestern regions. Governor Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency, banning commercial vehicles from highways starting at 5 p.m. Sunday to keep roads clear for plows and emergency vehicles. The combination of heavy, wet snow and high winds—gusts over 50 mph were expected—meant trees and power lines would inevitably come down, making repair work perilous. “High snowfall rates will make it difficult for plows to keep roads clear enough for Eversource trucks to travel and high winds throughout the day could make it dangerous for workers to get up to repair the lines,” reported WFSB.
Road closures quickly became the norm. In Connecticut, Bethany Road in Beacon Falls was shut down due to downed trees and power lines, with crews working to reopen it. Darien’s Route 106, Bridgeport’s Route 130, Guilford’s Route 77, and Trumbull’s Route 15 southbound all saw closures because of fallen trees or wires. Residents were urged to avoid affected areas and allow extra travel time. No estimated restoration times were available, and officials cautioned that restoration during blizzard conditions was unlikely, so outages would likely persist through the storm.
In Massachusetts, Eversource emphasized its preparedness, stating on X, “We have hundreds of line, tree and service crews, and thousands of employees and contractors across Massachusetts ready to respond to the powerful nor’easter arriving tonight. Our teams are prepared to work around the clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.” National Grid, meanwhile, warned customers that restoration times might initially be listed as “assessing conditions,” since safety hazards like downed trees and wires needed to be cleared before repairs could begin. “The numbers can go up and down as an ongoing storm causes new outages and/or as we de-energize lines to make conditions safe for repairs and restoration. Additionally, there could be new outages that occur that are separate from storm-related outages,” National Grid explained.
For those stuck without power, safety was paramount. Residents were advised to discard refrigerated medications if power was lost for more than a day, and to throw out any food left at room temperature for over two hours or with an unusual odor. Generators, officials reminded, should always be used outdoors and kept at least 10 feet from buildings and away from flammable liquids to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and fire hazards.
Despite the daunting conditions, the response from utility companies and local authorities was swift and coordinated. More than 700 Eversource crews in Connecticut and hundreds more in Massachusetts were on standby, ready to tackle the aftermath as soon as the winds subsided. United Illuminating spokesperson Angela Baccaro reassured customers, “Additional crews will be supporting our response during this storm to ensure we get power back on for our customers as quickly as possible in the event of an outage. Customers can also visit our website to report outages at any time and sign up for outage alerts to receive up-to-date information on estimated restoration times. With the heavy gusting winds, it is important to always stay away from downed wires and assume all downed wires are energized and dangerous.”
As Blizzard Calvin continued its relentless march up the coast, communities across Massachusetts and Connecticut braced for more snow, more wind, and more uncertainty. For many, the wait for lights, heat, and normalcy would stretch on for days, a stark reminder of nature’s raw power and the resilience required to weather its fiercest storms.